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 Walking The Past - Weston to Acton Route Directions  16km (10 miles)  5 - 7 hours
Step back in time and explore the 'olde worlde' villages around Crewe and Nantwich. Discover historical buildings, old battle sites and learn how people used to live.
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'Walking in the Past' starts in the picturesque village of Weston. One of the oldest buildings in Weston is the White Lion Pub, built in 1652. The bar is the original inglenook fireplace.
Man has lived in these parts for thousands of years. Five prehistoric flints were found in a sandy area to the west of Burrow Coppice.
Hough Common is very good for wildlife. Gypsies used to camp here, when travelling from one fair to the next. At night they would sit around the fire making multicoloured pegs which the women then sold to the local villagers. |
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Many Cheshire villages are still dominated by dairy farming. In the sixties there were more cows within a 10 mile radius of Nantwich Church than anywhere else in the world!
Wybunbury is one of Cheshire's oldest villages. The parish church of St. Chad has been in existence since the 7th century and was named after the Celtic bishop of Lichfield. The leaning 15th century tower has been straightened several times to combat the effects of subsidence, leading to a common saying 'as crooked as Winbury steeple.'
Nearby are the remains of two moated houses, which were used as 'safe houses' for visiting clergy from Lichfield. A hermit named Nicholas Baker supposedly lived close to the church in the 15th century. The Bishop of Coventry leased him two gardens for 99 years, on the condition that they were only kept by fit priests or honest hermits!
'Wybunbury Wakes' have recently been revived and once again are held on St. Chad's Day, the 1st Sunday in May. Home-made fig and apple pies are rolled down the Church bank, while former attractions included donkey racing and a two mile race for 1lb of tobacco!
Near to Mill Bank Farm there is a bridge over the River Weaver. This is the site of a medieval watermill, dating back to 1354. Look for the remains where a water wheel once stood.
A 16th century timber-framed barn remains at Old Hall Austerson. The Hall itself was moved to Alvanley Cliff, by the Sandstone Trail, near Frodsham. Centuries ago, oak and hazel known as wich-wood was taken from the woods of Austerson and used by local salt producers to boil brine.
Shrewbridge Lake is supplied by the River Weaver and a brine spring. In the fields to the west of the river was Shrewbridge Meadow salt works, built in 1693 by Viscount Cholmondeley.
The land opposite the lake used to belong to the Brine Baths Hotel which attracted visitors from far and wide, as it was famous for the healing powers of the brine spring.
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The historic market town of Nantwich, known for its salt industry, Civil War and Great Fire, is well worth a visit. Places of interest include Churche's Mansion, The Crown Hotel, Sweet Briar Hall, Nantwich Museum and St. Mary's Parish Church.
Dorfold Hall is a Jacobean manor house, built between 1615-1621 for Ralph Wilbraham, an influential Nantwich man. However, an earlier Saxon hall was owned by Earl Edwin, brother-in-law to King Harold.
Acton Church, also dedicated to St. Mary, was built on the site of a Saxon church. |
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The Normans demolished this and built their own church, with a fortified watch tower to guard against the invading Welsh. The Norman font was recovered from Dorfold Hall gardens. This is one of the few churches in England with stone benches around the walls, provided for those too weak to stand in the days before churches had pews, hence the saying "the weakest go to the wall".
The church was repaired in the present Gothic style after the tower was blown down by a gale in 1757. Legend has it that the devil was once so angry with the church that he hurled a rock at it from where he was sitting on Bickerton Hill. The rock fell in Bluestone near to Acton, showing he must have had a poor aim!
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